Author:
ROBIN ROBERTS
Jaguar has pounced on Lexus and knocked it off the top spot for owner satisfaction after eleven years at the top of the J.D.Power and Associates Vehicle Ownership Survey.
In a further twist to the tale, Lexus has been forced to share its second spot with Skoda, the VW Group’s previous budget brand, which has been steadily climbing the rankings.
Honda is fourth in the rankings, which are drawn from the evaluations of almost 18,000 online interviews of UK car owners. Mercedes-Benz comes fifth, while Toyota, Audi, Volkswagen, Volvo, BMW, Nissan and Land Rover are all placed above the industry average.
The study also reveals the ratings of 118 individual models, with the Kia Sportage posting the top score for customer satisfaction. The Vauxhall Vectra sits at the opposite end of the scale, behind the Nissan Pixo.
The winners in each category are as follows: Toyota iQ is the best city car, Honda Jazz is best supermini, Skoda Octavia is the best small family car, Toyota Prius is the best family car, Lexus IS is the best compact executive, Jaguar XF is the best executive car, VW Scirocco is the best sports and cabrio car, Mercedes B-Class is the best MPV, Kia Sportage is the best compact SUV, Lexus RX is the best large SUV.
The study measures customer satisfaction with the vehicle and dealer service, which is based on evaluation of 66 attributes grouped in four key measures. In order of importance, they are: vehicle appeal (31%), which includes performance, design, comfort and features; vehicle quality and reliability (22%); ownership costs (25%), which includes fuel consumption, insurance and costs of service/repair; and dealer service satisfaction (22%).
The 2012 UK Vehicle Ownership Satisfaction Study (VOSS) is based on the evaluations of almost 18,000 online interviews from UK car owners after an average of two years of ownership.
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